Young Afghan women: Visions of hope and fearLooking at young women in Afghanistan today, we can find two extremes. On one hand is Saeeda Sadat, 18, with two published books, and, on the other hand, we find Farkhunda, 18, raped by her brother... Page 4

Afghan Peace Volunteers start Food Bank in KabulThe Afghan Peace Volunteers (APVs) have been working for five years in different parts of the country. We work in three main areas: environment, gender... Page 3

Sunday, April 23, 2017 Vol. 2, No. 72

2. Personal Essays3. Community4-5. News

6. Star Related7. Literary8. Interview

See Inside Quote of the Week“The measure of a man is in the lives he’s touched."

- Ernie Banks

Star Educational Society Weekly

Interstellar (adjective): situated or occurring between the stars; conducted, or existing between two or more stars

More than two million Afghans suffer... Page 5

The glory of overcoming obstaclesI remember being about five years old when my family and I travelled on a big truck from Pakistan to Afghanistan. I was born in Peshawar, Pakistan and we were returning to our homeland after the fall of the Taliban regime. I was sen-sitive and timid, but also a smart kid who had just started school.... Page 2

Langston Hughes (1902 – 1967), Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, play-wright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry. Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance in New York City, an African-American cultural move-ment that focused on literature, music, theater, art, and politics.... Page 6

violence; and eradication of discrimina-tion. In such an environment, we feel motivated and compelled to struggle to-ward justice, equal rights, transparency, and building a society where peace and prosperity prevail.

In the early spring of 1996, still an English language learner myself, I partici-pated in a debate competition in Quetta which posed the question, "Is the pen mightier than sword?" This was a daunt-ing question at a time when the Taliban had just taken power in Afghanistan and the sword of their tyranny had left my people stranded in a land of sorrow and massacres. The Taliban occupied over 97% of Afghan soil, torturing, kidnapping and killing tens of thousands of my tribal members and imposing heavy taxes on others only because we were ethnic Haz-aras. But standing in front of an audience of 500 people, I debated that it was only the pen which would restore our dignity, revive our identities, rescue our wounded souls, and heal our broken bones.

The new horizon of hope would break on us in degrees. Star and many other vigorous schools and educational centers opened the doors of opportuni-ties for women and girls who were once locked in the mental darkness of their

homes, near the blackened chimneys and cold, dirty kitchens.

Star’s language proficiency programs promoted academic competency in English and other areas and produced a great pool of talent for the national and international job market. The pool of talent emerging from Star’s doors with strong academic and professional ex-pertise was even more tangible when many of our shining Stars were awarded prestigious scholarships with Fulbright, DAAD, AUCA, AUAF, AGFAF, YES, Initia-tive to Educate Afghan Women and many other schools and universities around the globe.

Our concentration on writing in Ad-vance A and B classes is a step toward mastering some of the fundamental ele-ments of university success. These classes help to prepare our students to develop competency in a rigorous university set-ting with English as their medium of in-struction. Included in these lectures are topics such as: how to write an academic essay, process essay, comparative sum-mary essay, the process of argumenta-tion, Toulman's argument model, Aris-totle rhetorical triangle, logical fallacies, summary writing, critical thinking and reading, analogy, mapping, annotated

Bibliography, Citation, Peer-reviewing. The Program Learning Group (PLG)

is a team of Star faculty who are respon-sible for ensuring quality education at all Star Branches. With the establishment of Star Institute of World Languages, the PLG has produced a new Advance English package. The new Institute-level advance package is an intensive five level compul-sory and two optional courses for our stu-dents of advance levels which is designed to help our goal-oriented students reach their dreams.

The five required levels will be Ad-vance A, Advance B, Advance Conversa-tion Class, Academic Writing and Cre-ative Writing. After completing these five intensive advanced classes, the students will be granted their Diplomas which will enable them to register for Star’s popular Teacher Training class and TOEFL prepa-ration class. Once a student chooses to be a future teacher at Star Educational Soci-ety or elsewhere, they can attend a three-month Teacher Training course taught by the most influential and talented lan-guage instructors at Star. If the student chooses to apply for scholarships, they will be provided a personal advisor, who will guide them to follow their dream.

Since the establishment of Star on August 28, 1998, the goal has always been to “cre-ate an ideal educational en-vironment.” This goal has

been used interchangeably with Star’s motto, "Join Us for Difference." These words have been a catalyst to strengthen my commitment and keep me constantly moving toward those goals. An ideal edu-cational environment is an environment which is both productive and impactful. It is one that stimulates and promotes excellence and expertise. It is an environ-ment that connects us to values such as equality; human rights; elimination of

Star Institute and the New Advance Package

A message from Ali Reza Yasa, Chairman and Founder

April 23rd, 2017

Vol.2, No. 72 Personal Essays

Page 2

in Pol-e-Sokhta. I went there and be-gan studying natural subjects like math, physics and chemistry. It was the first time I heard about the Kankor exam and I set my goal to pass that exam success-fully. Those days were the most beautiful days of my life.

Star would give 50% discount for first position holders which was a great chance for guys like me who were poor. When I received my Level Six certificate, I was deeply saddened to leave Star due to not having the fee for Advanced class-es. My family struggled to give me the money for a Kankor preparation course. I closed the chapter of my life that includ-ed Star and began the difficult studies for the Kankor.

It was dreadful getting up in the morning at 4:00 and riding 40 minutes from Darulaman to Barchi on bike. I studied from early morning until mid-night with a goal of scoring a perfect 360 on the Kankor. I struggled with depres-sion, but my determination kept me fo-cused on my dream. After one year of ups and downs, I passed the Kankor exam in

try to an undeveloped country with some backward cultural practices.

My teacher, Mr. Hassan Taha mo-tivated me to learn English. He made me more hopeful about the future. I am sensitive with a strong passion. When I undertake any kind of responsibility, I try my best to fulfill it. I always try to gain experience from my failures. My desire in

My name is Mohammad. I was born in Iran. I was two years old when my fam-ily migrated to the United Arab Emir-ates (UAE). Children are so inquisitive. It is the best period of life. When I was a child, I was overweight, destructive and mischievous therefore my parents were weary of me. Despite being overweight, I was nimble. I started school when I was

March 2016. I earned a score of 321 and was accepted in my first-choice field which was computer science. I was #224 among 200,000 Kankor test-takers which qualified me for the Indian Council for Cultural Relation scholarship for 2017. The top 500 students were given schol-arships from India. This showed me that there is always a bright day after a dark night.

Finally, our economic situation im-proved and I was able to return to Star and complete Advance A and B classes to earn my English diploma. I recently com-pleted the Teacher Training course at Star and was offered a teaching position as well. I am happy to embark on a new journey by pursuing my degree in com-puter science at Pune University in India. Ultimately, I have a goal to get my PhD so I can make this world a better place. My role model is Abdul Ali Mazari, the mar-tyred Hazara leader, and I want to help my people who are facing discrimination and are being killed every day. I believe the best way to help others and help our-selves is through education.

the future is to be a professional English instructor. Moreover, I want to be a good teacher at Star. I have achieved what I set my mind to which encourages my desire to become a skillful teacher in the future.

In my life, I do not have any enemies, except for frustration. I am who I am be-cause of the aid and support system of my family and my determination.

I did not have any friends and rarely left the home. I never went out to play with other boys. My mother was afraid that I would be influenced by the bad boys in our neighborhood.

My only pastime beside studying was watching TV. I imagined a life for myself the same as the characters in the car-toons I used to watch. My isolation had advantages, it made me study more than the other boys. That’s why I got first po-sition in sixth grade. That was the time I realized and told myself: “Hey, you fi-nally have done something that you can be proud of.” I kept the first position until tenth grade.

It was 2014 when my father became unemployed due to insecurity and the unstable political situation. We spent ev-erything we had to meet our needs. With no income, every day seemed hopeless and was filled with sadness. Every day I prayed that the situation would go away and that my father could get a job soon. But everything became worse day by day.

My father advised me to study hard and make my own future. He wanted me to have a future where I would never feel ashamed in front of my children. He also added that since we are Hazara and we are facing discrimination that studying is the only key to a bright future. He advised me to learn English because it would be beneficial for my future. I began looking for a good English language center and started studying English at Star Educa-tional Society in September 2014.

Studying at Star was the beginning of a new life for me. The unique atmo-sphere, talented teachers and brilliant students taught me new lessons and gave me new experiences. I also made new friends. I understood the value of the knowledge and the importance of the English language. I earned first position from Senior Beginner to Level Five. When I was studying at Star, a natural science educational center opened a new branch

I remember being about five years old when my family and I travelled on a big truck from Pakistan to Afghanistan. I was born in Peshawar, Pakistan and we were returning to our homeland after the fall of the Taliban regime. I was sensitive and timid, but also a smart kid who had just started school. However, I had zero self-confidence and was even too shy to speak with my parents about my prob-lems and desires.

When I first arrived at school every day, I would look for a secluded seat in order not to be noticed by the teacher. My biggest fear was to be called on by the teacher to come up in front of the board. Looking back, I think about how difficult my life was. I could easily start crying as soon as other students laughed at me when I was in front of the board.

seven years old. It was an Iranian school in UAE. I faced various hardships as an Afghan immigrant going to an Iranian school where the students, instructors and managers hated me and were unwill-ing to educate me as required. It was dif-ficult to tolerate their discriminating and rude behavior. There were several times I wanted to quit, but I controlled my disap-pointment.

Until 8th grade, I found it difficult to succeed within educational contexts. But, I excelled in athletics. Football,my favorite sport, was my passion. Adoles-cence is like the spring season, where the teenage years are characterized as viva-cious bursts of life. Personally, I was dy-namic. I was a member of an Arabian (Al Jazeera) football team. I won six medals through competing in different tourna-ments. In 8th grade, my classmate, who was also my cousin, scored the highest in the midterm exam. Scoring higher than my cousin was motivation for me to start to improve academically. When I woke up the next day, I took an oath that I would score the highest. That motivation was like a drive for me. I have a soul of perseverance and determination.

In 2014, UAE politicians decided to deport Shiite Muslims from Arab coun-tries. Before they could deport us, we left UAE by our choice. It was strange. I re-turned from a modern, developed coun-

The glory of overcoming obstacles

My drive for success

About the author: Ali Ramin Mahmoody is a Star alumnus who recently completed Star’s Teacher Training Course. He is ma-joring in computer science at Pune Uni-versity in India as a recipient of the Indian Council for Cultural Relation scholarship.

About the author: Mohammad Qasemi is a Star alumnus and new teacher at Star’s A Branch. He is studying medical science at Khatam-al Nabyeen University.

Vol.2, No. 72Community

Page 3April 23rd, 2017

home campaigning. In this collection effort, a group of volunteers goes from door-to-door of local homes soliciting food donations. When a person opens the door, the volunteers are wearing ‘Bor-der Free’ blue scarves, they present an ID card, give the resident a brochure, smile and introduce the APV organization and the food bank project. Secondly, they explain the situation of the poor people and ask the person to help poor families. Then the person can decide whether to donate food or not.

With the volunteers’ ID cards, ‘Bor-der Free’ blue scarves, and brochures, people are able to trust the campaigners and understand this is a legitimate effort. The people who donate food to the food bank can choose to distribute their food directly to people in need. Otherwise, the volunteers can send them photos of food distribution so they can see the results of their donations. APVs merely act as con-duits between the food donors and im-poverished families.

Your hands, fatherThey were big and roughWhen they touched my face

I never forget that dayWhen you showed me your fistWhich took me by surprise

When you opened it, I foundA world of happiness, wrapped inA tiny white cotton cloth

Cyan stone with silver hookThose beautiful turquoise earringsReflected sea of your fatherly eyes

Its hook like your presenceAnchored smoothly in my heartI smiled, grinned and you patted my face

In desert of your palmsHad grown mounds of kindnessLove of family, blisters of hardship

Oh, how I miss those hands,The sea, the anchor and those moundsWarmth of your kisses on my forehead

“Turquoise is stone of immunity”You said, “I bought it for you, to travel.”But, it was not me who traveled

The Afghan Peace Volunteers (APVs) have been working for five years in dif-ferent parts of the country. We work in three main areas: environment, gender equality, and nonviolence. Since pov-erty is one of the most serious issues in Afghanistan, the multi-ethnic members of APV help people to get an education; to start a business; and to support child street workers and their families. In ad-dition, six months ago, the volunteers started a Food Bank to help poor families and children who struggle with hunger and malnutrition.

Food Banks are places where chari-table people, businesses, shopkeepers, and other donors can donate food to be distributed by our volunteers to people in need. The purpose of this project is to help homeless kids, street kids, and des-titute people. Each month, families are surveyed, and at the end of the month, food is distributed to those in need.

One of the ways that volunteers col-lect food for poor people is by home-to-

Three months ago, with food dona-tions from many kindhearted people, 55 families received rice, oil, sugar and tea leaves, using our Food Bank. The Afghan Peace Volunteers have begun a new cam-paign to collect 100 sacks of rice for Af-ghan street kids. They have collected a few sacks so far.

Poverty causes people to move from place to place. It forces children to go out and work, keeping them far from edu-cation. It creates child marriages, drug abuse and many other problems. We be-lieve that hunger must come to an end in our country. Therefore, we invite people to join our Food Bank initiative and do-nate food for poor families and children.

If we all stand and fight to solve the problems, soon we will witness a bet-ter society. We can fight poverty if we are willing to stand together. We can decrease violence, end child labor, and have more educated people. Let’s stand together to create a green, equal, and nonviolent Afghanistan.

About the author: Nematullah Ahangosh is a Star alumnus. He works for Jesuit Ref-ugee Service teaching English to children in IDP camps. He is an active member of Afghan Peace Volunteers. You can follow him at https://ahangosh.wordpress.com

About the poet: Zahra Karimi is a se-nior at the American University of Central

Asia majoring in Software Engineering.

She enjoys photogra-phy and poetry in her free time. She aspires to be an Application Developer when she

graduates.

Your hands, father

Afghan Peace Volunteers start Food Bank in Kabul

Malala Yousafzai: “Men should not clip the wings of women”

Written by: Amena

19-year-old Malala Yousafzai was recently named the youngest UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on girls’ education. At age 17 she became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner. On 10 April 2017, Yousafzai spoke to a room of diplomats and young girls in New York City. These were some of the powerful words she shared:

The role of men and fathers and brothers is really important be-cause there were so many girls just like me in Swat Valley who could have spoken out. Problem was that the men in society did not allow them. Their brothers did not allow them. Their fathers did not allow them. And what is different in my story is that my father did not stop me. It wasn’t that I was very intelligent or very clever or I had some special kind of training or something. All I had was a father in a family who said, “Yes, you can speak out, it's your choice.” My father says that, “Don’t ask me what I did for Malala, but ask me what I didn’t do and I didn’t clip her wings.” So men should not clip the wings of women and let them fly and let them go forward.

Page 4 April 23rd, 2017

Vol.2, No. 72 News

Looking at young women in Afghan-istan today, we can find two extremes. On one hand is Saeeda Sadat, 18, with two published books, and, on the other hand, we find Farkhunda, 18, raped by her brother and a resident of a women’s shelter in Kabul.

The life stories of Afghan women have been made up of torture, abuse, rape, and many other forms of violence. But young women have like Sadat have a different story to tell about lives in Afghanistan, while Farkhunda still re-minds us about the harsh situation for girls.

Efforts to bring change to the lives of women have had an impact on young women. “I’m very optimistic about the situation for women,” said Zahra Yaga-na, a women’s rights activist. “The young generation is the reason why I’m opti-mistic; they are the result of our efforts.”

Sadat, one of the successful young women in Afghanistan today, is a poet with two published books. In 2012, when she was in 7th grade whe published her first poetry book titled, Fault was in Time. She printed 1000 copies with her father’s financial support. “Two years later, I published my second book titled, ‘Hear me’ which is a collection of quotes in 1000 copies” said Sadat. The country has improved enough that girls like Sa-dat can grow up and chase their dreams.

But feminist Aziza Karimi believes the situation for Afghan women is frag-ile and at any time the country can get worse for women. “Violence against women is rooted in culture, social struc-tures and the long history of the coun-

and my father, but they didn’t trust me and said I falsely accused my brother again.”

In Afghanistan today, many families support, trust and allow their daugh-ters to live in the public, not confined to their homes. “My father helped me by allowing me to go anywhere and do any-thing I want. He has given me ‘freedom’,” said Sadat. She started Taekwondo in 2011 and has achieved 1st Dan Black Belt from Korea Headquarters of Tae-kwondo, among the first Afghan girls to achieve it. She has also won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in different compe-titions. Sadat was among the first team of Afghan women mountain climbers who conquered the summit of the Baba and Panjsher Mountains in Afghani-stan in 2014. While many families have changed, families like Farkhunda’s still torture their daughters. “When I told my father that my brother raped me, he beat me and said, ‘One day you will accuse me too.’” Her father was afraid of her brother because one time her brother had tried to kill him. In the nights before her brother raped her, her father never listened to her. “He used to say, ‘Go away, turn off the light and sleep’,” said the of-ficial document.

Cases like Farkhunda’s, support Karimi’s attitude toward the situation for girls in the country. According to her and reports, violence against women has increased. “Increasing violence shows that men are afraid of losing their role in the society,” said Karimi. According to socio-cultural theory, violence reminds women that they are violating female gender roles merely by being out of their homes. In other words, men’s percep-

try. Violence against women still speaks out,” said Karimi.

Farkhunda, which is not her real name, was in 7th grade, when she stopped attending school. She is like many other girls who are not in school, but are confined to their homes. “Three to five times, my brother raped me and eventually I escaped,” said Farkhonda as reported in an official document from authorities who investigated her case. Instead of attending school, she had be-come a sexual slave of her brother.

According to UNICEF, there are ap-proximately 14,000 schools, of which only 15 per cent are for girls. More than 8.3 million children attend school in Af-ghanistan today and nearly 40 per cent of them are girls. The progress of educa-tion for children and girls like Farkhun-da is viewed as, “fragile, limited in reach, depth and uncertainty of sustainability” (UNICEF Education SitAn, 2013).

Sadat is a 12th grader at Soria High School in Kabul and has always been encouraged to continue her education. “My father bought a bike for me. Every school day, I use my bike to travel back and forth to school,” said Sadat.

In contrast, Farkhunda has been seeking shelter and protection, usually from the Department of Women Affairs in Mazar e Sharif. Each time, her family promised the officials to take care of her and she was released, said officials.

“I returned home and, after one night, my brother came to me, gagged me and started to touch my legs. Then he raped me,” said the official docu-ment. “In the morning, I told my mother

tion of women’s role in society is limited to their homes. “Men harm women be-cause they fear that women would take their role and do work beyond their homes,” says Karimi.

“Society gives car-toys to boys, but dolls to girls,” Sadat said. Men may harm women, but young women like Sadat do not believe that braveness and other stereotypical attributes of men are lim-ited to men. Young women can also have those attributes and can fill the same roles as men in society.

In Afghanistan today, brave young women are the hope for many people to bring change. “I have a strong belief in young girls to bring changes to Afghan women’s lives,” said Ms. Yagana. “They won’t allow the country to get worse for women again. I believe in them. They have become indigenous changers in the country.”

Sadat is also a painter and women rights activist who has traveled to Mazar, Herat and Jalalabad to promote wom-en’s rights. “I paint for women. I paint to change,” she said. She has held more than ten exhibitions of her works with one subject: women’s rights. Of course, she is one of a large number of female changemakers. The other significant im-pact of efforts to bring change for wom-en who were not allowed to dream big is that women’s dreams have now become big enough larger than life. “I want to be the second Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi,” said Sadat, adding a smile. But not to forget, Farkhunda has sleepless nights in a women’s shelter reminding us that we must continue efforts to make Afghanistan a better place for all women and girls.

Young Afghan women: Visions of hope and fear

The relationship between Afghani-stan and United States of America is stra-tegic, said, Sarwar Danish, Second Vice president of President, in a meeting with Hugo Lorance, American Ambassador. Mr. Danish emphasizes on expanding of relationships between Afghanistan and United States of America and has said it was expected that the battle against terrorism would intensify by new gov-ernment of America. Because of inter-national situation, region and preserve of past achievements, the level of coop-

eration must spread between these two countries, he said. The vice president of president pointed to the past experiences in bilateral cooperation between Afghan-istan and United States of America and cooperation of America in different areas in Afghanistan.

The National Unity Government ex-pected that American Security Forces must continue security operations in Af-ghanistan.

Right now, Hugo Lorance has en-sured Afghanistan and America may have stronger cooperation in different fields in Afghanistan.

Translated by: Zakia Gullab zadaSource: Hasht-e- subh

Written by: Ezzatullah MehrdadRepublished from: Afghanistan Times

Strategic Afghan-American Relationship

2 Haqqani Network Supreme Commanders Killed in Ghazni

More than two million Afghans suffer from mental health Problems

Page 5

Vol.2, No. 72News

April 23rd, 2017

Ministry of welfare declared an an-nouncement on women’s safety in soci-ety and workplace. Nasrin Oriakhil said that they sent the bill to the president for approval. She said, “Generally, women are confronting with gender discrimi-nation specially those who are working in governmental or non-governmental companies. Furthermore, those women who are living in villages do not have ac-cess to health services. Even they do not have access to secondary school educa-tion in their villages. Thus, ninety percent of them are illiterate.”

Minister of Welfare said that they had started that program practically

Saied Ekram Afzali, Chairman of the Commission of Access to Information and some other members of this com-mission, expressed their satisfaction for information process in a meeting with Minister of Rural Development and said that the ministry should be a model for other government agencies in informa-tion part. Mr. Afzali said that Ministry of Rural Development was the first govern-ment agency that created bank of access to information.

Nasir Ahmad Durani, Minister of Ru-ral Development, said that according to constitution and Access to Information Law, it was the right of every citizen to

Ministry of Interior Affairs an-nounced that two supreme command-ers of Haqqani network have been killed as the result of an air attack in Ghazni province. Ministry of Interior Affairs said on Saturday Hamal 19 that the Friday Air attack was conducted in Parcha region, Giro district of Ghazni province.

According to the news received, Moulavi Rashid and Mullah Mohammad Gul Nafiz, two supreme commanders of Haqqani terrorist network, who had an important role in organizing suicide at-tacks in Ghazni province plus four mem-bers of this network were the victims of

The world health organization has selected “Let’s Talk” as its motto whereas more than 1 million Afghans suffer from depression and also more than 1.2 mil-lion Afghans suffer from psychopathy and anxiety. World Health Organization expressed its concern about an increase in depressed patients in a celebration of World Health Day yesterday in Kabul.

According to the Organization’s sta-tistics, more than 1.2 million Afghans suf-fer from psychopathy and Anxiety.

WHO (World Health Organization) officials said there was a close relation-ship among depression, none commu-nicable diseases and other kinds of dis-eases.

Dr. Richard Perpper Korn, the rep-resentative of WHO said the reason why they had chosen (Let’s Talk) motto for the current year. Dr. Richard Perpper Korn also said that there was a need to invest more on mental health protection and treat people with psychopathy.

Ministry of Public Health is currently training more than 700 advisors, 101 doc-tors and mental health professionals to increase Afghanistan’s citizens’ access to psychotherapists and mental health cen-ters. M.P.H officials said 300 of those people were working at governmental health centers and 500 of them were working with NGOs.

Dr. Fada Mohammad Paikan, Deputy of Health Ser-vices, said, “Depression causes sadness and anxiety, and ef-fects on human abilities. It sometimes causes unpleasant consequences in family and

and it would be continued for ten years. Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture would be the cooperators with Ministry of Welfare to empower women. “Women do not have authority over their own income.” She said. “In this bill we are going to focus on women in villages as well.”

Rolla Ghani said that they passed four decades war in their country and women were the direct victims of war. Therefore, women lost their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons. Rolla Ghani said. “Women have the right to live a peaceful life but we have a complicated condition with mysterious opponents in our country which make it difficult.”

have access to information and the min-istry was committed to ensure transpar-ency, accountability for the people, pro-viding better services and addressing the problems of people and to inform them on time. Mr. Durani said that the ministry created bank of information to protect the document and create better access to the information.

the attack. Moreover, a car filled with weapon belonging to this group was completely destroyed.

Ministry of Defense says that the Air Forces and Special Forces attack for the sake of destroying terrorists. The news-letter published by the spokesman of the ministry has mentioned that as the result of Air Forces and Special Forces attacks in various parts of the country within 24 hours, 32 terrorists including 13 ISIS, 5 Al-Qaida members, Taliban deputy governor for Kunduz, and 8 Ta-jiks [related to Tajikistan] terrorists were killed.

friendship. In the worst situation, de-pression can cause suicide. Depression is known the second reason for death, among 15 -29 year old people.

M.P.H confirms that it had taken a census in 2016 to obtain accurate sta-tistics of those Afghans, who suffer from psychopathy, and the results would be published in 2018. According to the Doc-tor poverty, insecurity, arguments and fights, unemployment, physical disease, sexual and family violence cause mental diseases for individuals.

Psychotherapists believe that fre-quent and permanent loss of interest in everyday activities, loss of energy, change in appetite, sleeping more or less, dis-traction, passivity, dysphoria, feeling of worthlessness, feel guilty or depression, suicidal thoughts are symptoms of men-tal disease.

On the other hand, Ministry of Public Health on occasion of World Health Day said, “Our citizens’ access to health ser-vices will be increased and we will have plans for improving this health services.”

Dr. Fada Mohammad Paikan said that 80% of citizens had access to health services.

Translated by: Sharif AkbariSource; Hasht-e-Subh

Translated by: AminaSource: Hasht-e-Subh

Translated by: Atefa Sharifi Source: Etilaatroz

Translated by: Reza SalehiSource: Daily Afghanistan Ma

Women‘s safety

Ministry of Rural Development; model in information section

Page 6 April 23rd, 2017

Vol.2, No. 72 Star Related

versity teaching positions. So why couldn’t mine?

My mother spread her sunbaked hands and said, “This is where I came from,” spinning a tale with the Eng-lish she had taught herself.

When my mother moved from her village to a town in Malaysia, she had to learn a brand new language in middle school: English. In a time when humiliation was encouraged, my mother was defenseless against the cruel words spewing from the teacher, who criticized her paper in front of the class. When she began to cry, the class president stood up and said, “That’s enough.”

“Be like that class president,” my mother said with tears in her eyes. The class president took her under her wing and patiently mended my mother’s strands of language. “She stood up for the weak and used her words to fight back.”

We were both crying now. My mother asked me to teach her proper English so old white ladies at Target wouldn’t laugh at her pronunciation. It has not been easy. There is a mea-sure of guilt when I sew her letters together. Long vowels, double con-

sonants — I am still learning myself. Sometimes I let the brokenness slide to spare her pride but perhaps I have hurt her more to spare mine.

As my mother’s vocabulary began to grow, I mended my own English. Through performing poetry in front of 3000 at my school’s Season Finale event, interviewing people from all walks of life, and writing stories for the stage, I stand against ignorance and become a voice for the home-less, the refugees, the ignored. With my words I fight against jeers pelted at an old Asian street performer on a New York subway. My mother’s eyes are reflected in underprivileged ESL children who have so many stories to tell but do not know how. I fill them with words as they take needle and thread to make a tapestry.

In our house, there is beauty in the way we speak to each other. In our house, language is not broken but rather bursting with emotion. We have built a house out of words. There are friendly snakes in the cup-board and snacks in the tank. It is a crooked house. It is a little messy. But this is where we have made our home.

In our house, English is not Eng-lish. Not in the phonetic sense, like short a is for apple, but rather in the pronunciation – in our house, snake is snack. Words do not roll off our tongues correctly – yet I, who was pulled out of class to meet with lan-guage specialists, and my mother from Malaysia, who pronounces film as flim, understand each other per-fectly.

In our house, there is no differ-ence between cast and cash, which was why at a church retreat, people made fun of me for “cashing out de-mons.” I did not realize the glaring difference between the two Englishes until my teacher corrected my pro-nunciations of hammock, ladle, and siphon. Classmates laughed because I pronounce accept as except, suc-cess as sussess. I was in the Creative Writing conservatory, and yet words failed me when I needed them most.

Suddenly, understanding flower is flour wasn’t enough. I rejected the English that had never seemed bro-ken before, a language that had raised me and taught me everything I knew. Everybody else’s parents spoke with accents smarting of Ph.D.s and uni-

17-year old Malaysian immigrant gains admission to all 8 Ivy League Universities with essay about learning English

Cassandra Hsiao immigrated to the U.S. from Malaysia at just 5 years old. She’s a first-generation immigrant living in Southern California. She has offers from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, Cornell and Penn. Hsiao has a wildly impressive resume, but it was her essay about learning English that impressed the universities. In addition to being accepted to all Ivy League schools, she was also accepted to Stanford University, John Hopkins University, University of Southern California, Northwestern University, New

York University, Amherst College and many others in the UC system. Here is her essay:

Page 7April 23rd, 2017

Vol.2, No. 72Literary

The war was not just about people getting killed and hurt, it was also about how brother fought against brother, and how families and relatives

were split and bitterly divided. The women did not have much say in what happened. It was the men who got into fights and arguments and fought against one another. Often we did not under-stand what the problem was but we had to play along. When the men were away, most of us got along fine.

Your father and your maternal grandfather were in opposing parties. We lived one roughly hundred steps apart but during the war we felt like we were worlds apart. We did not even ac-knowledge one another when our paths crossed. We did not use the village wa-ter-spring at the same time, and avoided interaction. Your mother could not visit her siblings and parents, and your aunt could not visit us. It was terrible. Khaag da sar azu roza kina.

He walked right past me. At the end of the prayer service that day, he consoled my sister but walked out straight past me.

Years after we became refugees, all

In early spring one year, your ma-ternal grandfather slaughtered a sheep and threw feast for the villagers. This was a few months before you were born. Given your mother’s pregnancy and the rarity of good food in the village, I expected them to send over some for your mother. They did not send any. The guests and villagers walked by our house, ate in the feast, and walked back. We were not invited. Late in the evening there was a knock on the door. I opened the door and found Aabay Saifulla and your aunt at the door with food in their hands. They said they had waited for your grandfather to go to the mosque for prayers before secretly making their way to our house to bring some food.

On another day I was at my paternal home in Geru for my elder brother’s fu-neral. Aatay Shukrullah’s older brother was also there along with other villagers. He was with the Mullahs and he had a beef against your father. He greeted ev-eryone else at the home but not to me.

the people who had fought against us and forced us out, visited us and stayed at our home on one occasion or another. We look past what had happened but we could not forget about it.

DreamsHold fast to dreamsFor if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat cannot fly.Hold fast to dreamsFor when dreams goLife is a barren fieldFrozen with snow.

April Rain SongLet the rain kiss youLet the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid dropsLet the rain sing you a lullabyThe rain makes still pools on the sidewalkThe rain makes running pools in the gutterThe rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at nightAnd I love the rain.

Langston Hughes (1902 – 1967), was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry. Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance in New York City, an African-American cultural movement that focused on literature, music, theater, art, and politics. He was the first African American to support himself as a writer, and he wrote from his own experience.

StoriesMy Grandmother

Told Me

77

About the author: Hadi Zaher was the first graduate of Quetta's branch of Star Educational Society in the year 1999. He has an MA from the University of Wollongong in Australia and is currently a post-graduate student at the University of New South Wales.

despite the fact the world may not be built for us.

I think it takes a lot of foundational work to change women’s status in society and a bulk of that work is raising women’s capacity. I find it hard to talk about wom-en’s rights in our community when I know that a large majority of women see them-selves as weak and inferior and think their only worth in life is getting married and producing children. Many of us, women, need to change our priorities and real-ize that we can contribute in more ways than childrearing. Our only worth is not in reproduction. We also need to know ourselves better and create paths for our-selves to be influential in our communi-ties. Truly fighting for gender equality is not without risks. We may face violence, insults, or even death for our work, but we must continue to fight for equality never-theless. Many young women see you as a role model. What advice do you have for them? What an exciting thought… to be a role model. I feel honored at the thought of being someone else’s role model. I have personally tried hard to learn from anyone with whom I cross paths in life. I have ac-tively sought how those who are more suc-cessful got there and how they define suc-cess and progress. I would tell other youth to seek learning, to believe in themselves and to work hard. It is important to be calm and collected even when you know you are right but you are being attacked or criticized. That is when you learn to grow up and be strong. I want young women to have a plan- a vision- for their lives to think about what they want to change,

Sunday, April 23, 2017 Vol. 2, No. 72

what they want to leave behind, and what they want to add to the conversations we are having as a society.

In order for women to leave a mark on so-ciety, we need to have a somewhat stable society. How do you feel about the future of Afghanistan? I am never giving up on my country. I am the future. I learn, work, laugh, walk around Kabul’s streets, experi-ence war, and think about life. This is the future. I am glad that I have this future and that I have this home. How can I give up on living and working in this country when I see young kids who wax the shoes of passersby with one hand and do home-work with the other? How greedy does one have to be to feel frustrated by this life while we have so much more than the very women we walk by on the streets who are begging for food? I am frighteningly hope-ful for Afghanistan and I see beauty and hope everywhere in this country.

today, after eight years of working in media, my parents talk to me three times a day. They ask me how my work is going and they tell me to come home safely. From the get-go I had my family’s support. For example, one of my aunts always tells me that I fulfilled the wishes she had for herself. My family is my support system and my source of inspiration.

How do you continue to do your work despite the great risks that many women journalists face in Afghanistan? What helps me is my sense of commitment. I try to fo-cus on the impact of my work, regardless of how small it may be, instead of the risks I will face. I think about a time my work has contributed to the world, even if it was just in mak-ing one child smile. That helps me remain useful. I

also know that unless we risk some things, we will not achieve everything we want to achieve. I’ve also always been adventur-ous and wanted to travel the world and tell untold stories. I feel this work is important and risks are a part of it. I try to overcome them.

What kinds of stories do you enjoy tell-ing? What stories do you remember? I re-member every one of my stories, down to the details of how I prepared them and the lines I wrote. The stories energize me are those where I’ve seen someone overcome great odds. People like that always strike me with awe and momentarily stop me at my tracks. Stories of like Shakila Ebra-himkhail, a brave journalist who has bro-ken many important stories over the past years, will stay with me forever. I know how much courage it takes to do what she does. Other stories that have stuck with me are the story of Negin Khpulwak, the conductor of our first women’s orchestra, and of the renowned activist Dr. Sima Sa-mar.

How do you deal with sexism in the field of media and journalism? I deal with and fight sexism like other women around the world. Our communities are largely built on patriarchy and on defining women as second class citizens, but with every pass-ing day I feel stronger in my fight against any notion of women’s inferiority. I deep-ly believe that the most sufficient way to fight discrimination is to equip ourselves with knowledge, literacy and confidence

From getting threats from terrorists to facing harassment on the streets, it is not easy being a woman journalist in Af-ghanistan. The obstacles, however, have not stopped many from breaking barriers and telling Afghanistan’s stories through a variety of mass media that has recently become widespread across the country. Among the brave journalists who are pav-ing the way is Farahnaz Forotan. Working for Tolo News, she is one of the most well-known journalists in the country and she is not about to stop. We recently had the chance to interview Farahnaz.

What inspired you to become a journal-ist? From a very young age, I loved media. When I was in the sixth or seventh grade, I learned about popular radio stations and shows. I found it all fascinating. I would finish my homework and then listen to the radio or watch television shows. Even to-day, I find my job fascinating. I am never bored with it and I don’t think I can ever be away from it.

Tell us about your family and the impor-tance of having their support in finding success in Afghanistan. Family support has been incredibly important for me. I feel indebted to my family for their sup-port because they also stood by me. They trusted me and supported my work. They stood up to others who questioned my choices and my profession, but never doubted me. They encouraged me, fol-lowed my work, gave me useful critique and overall, helped me improve. Even

Pary ShuaibPary Shuaib is a Free Women Writers mem-ber with a relentless passion for gender equality. She has a BA in Communication from George Mason University and some-

times does yoga to soothe her soul.

Farahnaz Forotan: I will never give up on Afghanistan

Republished from: http://www.freewomenwriters.org

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